Jade
'Jade '''is one of the main protagonists of ''The Wildflowers series. She is the narrator of the novel ''Jade. '' Background Jade's parents are both very wealthy. Jade always had the best of everything growing up, but her parents were emotionally neglectful, often working and rarely interacting with their daughter. As a result, Jade grew up to be quite mature and independent from a young age. Jade's parents' marriage broke down when she was in her teens. They went through a long and bitter court battle, fighting over who got what, including who got custody of Jade. She was often forced to testify in court and felt torn between her parents. To make matters worse, Jade felt her parents weren't fighting each other because they loved her and wanted what was best for her, but because they wanted to 'one up' the other, treating her more like an object than a person. Jade became increasingly lonely, frustrated and withdrawn as the divorce went on. She often went on online chat-rooms and befriended a user named Loneboy, who later revealed himself to be a teenage boy named Craig. Jade, tired of feeling alone, found herself drawn to Craig and believed herself to be in love. She agreed to meet with Craig, buying a plane ticket and flying out to his home city to see him one weekend, without telling her parents. Upon arriving at Craig's house, however, Jade discovered it was occupied by a strange older man, who claimed he was Craig's father and invited her in to wait until Craig returned. Jade was suspicious, but against her better judgement, she agreed to stay. The man refused to let Jade leave, knocking her out with chloroform, stripping her and tying her to his bed. Jade claimed he didn't rape her, just touched her, but the experience was still undeniably horrific. Jade deduced that the man, who appeared to be delusional, was actually Craig all along, pretending to be a teenage boy to lure in vulnerable girls like herself. Jade eventually managed to untie herself and escaped, catching a plane back home. Upon arriving, she discovered no one, including her parents, had even noticed she was gone. Devastated, Jade overdosed on sleeping pills and was taken to hospital. In court, Jade told the judge she didn't really care which parent she lived with, as she hated them both. A court psychiatrist concluded that the court proceedings were having a detrimental effect on her and recommended she begin seeing Doctor Marlowe. The Wildflowers Jade appears to empathise with Misty the most during her story, as they have a lot in common. She initially doesn't get along with Star, with the pair arguing often, but they start to warm up to each other after realising they aren't so different after all. Jade tells her story in the third session. She reveals to the others that her parents appear remorseful for what they put her through and are talking about having joint custody. Jade also agrees to become chairperson of the OWPs, after being nominated by Misty. Personality Jade is depicted as being very mature, sophisticated and independent. She often comes across as being rather haughty and aloof, with a tendency towards sarcasm, but she is revealed to be insecure and lonely, using her cold demeanor as a mask. She becomes defensive about things quickly, becoming upset that the other girls judge her simply because she has rich parents and thus automatically assume she doesn't have problems and troubles of her own. Her feelings of isolation and lack of affection drive her to do things like meeting strangers online, out of desperation to form a connection and feel wanted.